


The Lightsaber does not make a Jedi

by Sumtimewriting



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Adorable Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Cal Kestis, Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Good Parent Din Djarin, Jedi Training (Star Wars), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, how to start a family while on the run 101
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:40:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28020300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumtimewriting/pseuds/Sumtimewriting
Summary: It was like any other day for Cal Kestis, his mind calm on a small moon in the outer rim... Until it wasn't.Someone called out to him and there was no way he wasn't going to answer. A promise he made a long time ago still stands strong. He would protect them.(Cal finds the boys instead of Luke)
Relationships: Din Djarin/Cal Kestis, Grogu & Cal Kestis, Grogu & Din Djarin
Comments: 56
Kudos: 316





	1. The Plea

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not a huge Star Wars buff, so not all the lore in here may be fully correct. I apologize, I try my best.

His mind was quiet as he meandered around the crowded bazaar, light green eyes roaming the seemingly endless amount of shiny, metallic, objects for sale. 

All sorts of different species and languages intermingled around him. People shopping for some droid parts or perhaps a shiny new blaster they legally shouldn't be carrying around. This was expected when you're this far into the outer rim, and honestly, it was a welcome sight. Cal Kestis had been spending years upon years visiting these sorts of planets; due to his unpopularity among a certain group of dangerous individuals.

His already dirty black boots sank into the dark sand with each step, making it a bit difficult to walk as he kicked up a puff of sand with each step. But Cal enjoyed the atmosphere that surrounded him nevertheless and took in each sight. There were two cloaked individuals bartering over a piece of mystery meat. A very tiny vendor selling a GNK power droid to a rather excited cloaked customer. 

The starcraft he used to get here, to the middle of nowhere, was a modified old rebellion patrol ship he got as a gift for helping a group of freedom fighters. It wasn't in perfect condition when he got it originally, but they got it in running order eventually. They meaning Cal and Greez. They not only got in running perfectly but made the new republic ship less… Republic. Not that the New Republic was bad. He just didn't want to be attracting attention everywhere he went, no matter the type of attention it was. 

Cal and Greez became very close over the years on the Mantis, the Latero becoming somewhat of a father figure to the young human for some time. It helped their relationship when they both knew the most about space crafts. Naturally, taking apart ships for five years taught him a few things about how spacecraft operated. They used to spend countless hours talking of the latest models and how they compared in the living area, much to Cere and Merrin’s dismay. Cal's old headphones were borrowed very often from him back then. The pair of them grew even closer during the repairs to his ship they did on Bogano, that was where they parked the vehicle in between missions. Those times on Bogano were special, to Cal, and he found himself thinking back to them often. He could remember every detail vividly, he made sure of it, moments like those don't last forever. 

Him and Greez working on the beater, the familiar smell of fresh welded metal and oil all surrounded them. Cere relaxing in the sunshine reading a book or playing her guitar, more at peace with the force and herself after each visit. Merrin going out with BD-1 to explore the old Zeffo architecture. She said once that the ruins reminded her of the ones back on Dathomir.

At that time he could tell she missed her home and her family. They all did in some form. But they found solace in one another. He smiled to himself at the thought of his family and a warmth spread through his chest. He couldn't wait to visit them all again after so long. It's been a long time since Cal started to travel on his own, and he promised to visit, and he would... Eventually. He was trapped for so long, on Bracca, even to a certain extent the New Republic. Not that he minded helping their cause, the Empire needed to be stopped, but it was freeing to make decisions for himself and to go wherever he wanted.

It was nice to finally own a spacecraft of his own too, no matter the model. It was a dream he had wanted since he was a padawan watching the clone troopers control the small ship Master Tapal and young Cal resided in before order 66. Greez offered up several times his own ship for Cal to take to the outer rim. It was safer, more stable, and a luxurious yacht to boot. But he couldn't take it, no matter how much his small friend insisted. The Mantis has only one captain.

Cal truly loved his little ship. But, the human could only take being in such a cramped space with just a single affectionate droid for so long. Not that he loved BD-1, that was his buddy. He just needed to be moving. Not trapped in a single small space, that held only two chairs, a hammock with some storage shelves next to it, and of course a small sanitary room. Unable to leave due to the vacuum of space that surrounded them, unable to do anything besides card games with a droid he was sure was cheating somehow. He couldn't figure out how BD did it yet, but he would figure it out soon enough. 

Earlier that day when he landed on the small moon connected to a rather large gas giant, he scrambled to get out of the ship and jumped out. His feet hitting the earth roughly and immediately felt relief as he stretched. Cal felt joints crack where he wasn't sure there could be joints. He took in the temperature and atmosphere of the crisp planet as he acclimated to being outdoors again. The moon's temperature was lower than most would find agreeable. But Cal’s several layers of jackets and on top of it all his breathable, orange and black, trusty poncho made sure he was comfortable wherever he went. He had this piece of clothing for so long it felt like a part of him now. Due to this, he was recognized as a scrapper occasionally, some travelers asking for his expertise, and if he wasn't in a hurry, he would help them out. Cere called it his personal security blanket, which he laughed off. He did not deny this claim. Cal wouldn't let this thing go, they would have to pry it from his cold dead body. It was the first garment given to him that wasn't the light padawan robes. He always found himself a little chilly in those cream and brown clothes. Layers are a beautiful thing.

There were several holes in the garment after so many years of use. The oldest and most noticeable was one near the bottom of his left rib cage. There were also several tears near the bottom of the fabric and a few terrible patch jobs done with the help of Merrin. Apparently, the sisters of Dathomir were taught to sew all of their own, beautifully intricate, maroon robes. He would never reach the skill she had. More thoughts of Merrin made his heart ache. He missed his dear friend, he hasn't seen her for a good long while. She was the first of their group to go off on their own, always so very independent. She was happy back on Dathomir trying to rebuild the culture she lost to the evil Empire. As long as she was happy and healthy, he was content. He was sure she felt the same about him, they all approved of his traveling on his own once the Empire lost power.

After Cal finished his initial stretch once escaping the confines of his spacecraft, BD and he would go through a routine. He would turn towards his silver ship and yelled nonchalantly through the small circular opening that he would be back in just a bit. “Captain BD”, as he liked to be called on their small vessel, nodded at him through the thick glass from the pilot chair and went back to “guard” their silver home away from home, knowing that Cal wouldn't be long. In fact, the small droid was always excited for the important role of security guard. The ship was being refueled by some small blue-skinned workers with small horns on their heads, whom he handed a few credits to on his way over to the bazaar earlier. They knew the drill and it was a much-appreciated custom at these types of ports for the human.

The port they were at was a new one, not on any map just yet. Cal heard of it in passing at a pub a few systems away while following a lead on some remnant Empire troops causing trouble on an unofficiated planet. The simple buildings were made out of large boulders they found on the surface nearby. There was no flag that Cal could see, which meant it was neither republic nor empire controlled. Just how he liked it. These markets were generally much less crowded with only two dozen or so starcrafts docked among his own. In a few hours to be leaving; going back to where they originally came from. This was just a destination to sell and buy exotic items under no watchful eye. 

He was not looking for anything in particular that day as his feet kicked up dark brown sand with each step, following the small crowd of heavily clothed people also taking their time looking around. Just a few shoppers knew exactly what they were here for and rudely pushed others aside when they saw their objective for coming this far. 

The sky above the human had a clear view of the parent planet. Cal could see all the different storms above him on the gas giant, colored maroon and brown and slowly swirling dangerously around each other. There flashes of lighting coming through the clouds, hitting the hidden surface of the planet. A lovely view, he thought to himself. Even after traveling for so long, he couldn't get over how large the universe was, and his minuscule part in it. It was all just so brilliant. While he did have a purpose being out here, a selfish part of him just wanted to explore the places he could have only dreamed of seeing long ago. The places war has not yet touched and hopefully never will. The small villages of those places were his favorite, the residents of these planets were always so kind. 

His mind was calm. It was just another day. Just another stop and just another port...Until it wasn't. 

The best way to describe the impact he felt in his head was something similar he dealt with just once before. The feeling of laying in your cot, transportation on autopilot in the middle of nowhere, listening to some music through familiar headphones, enjoying the tranquility of it all. When a stray meteor slams into your ship and sends your small vessel rapidly flying through space. You, your droid, your headphones, and all your other belongings slamming into the opposite wall. He learned that day headphones on a ship, with not very loud alarms, was a terrible combination. 

Trying not to cause a scene among the throng of people that surrounded him, he ducked his head in hopes no one noticed his sudden distress. His, normally swept back, red hair fell over his eyes as he raised his gloved hand to grasp his head, trying to calm the pounding. The human tried to get his bearings and forced himself through the throng of unique individuals that continued shopping on the freezing planet as if nothing was going on, as if their minds weren’t just infiltrated. 

The different colors that surrounded him combined with the pulsing in his head were starting to give him a terrible headache. He staggered into a somewhat private alleyway between two very close rocky buildings. Two people, a short cloaked figure and a tall insectoid of some sort, hissed at the interruption and scurried away when he turned into the alley. Most likely getting themselves into trouble. 

A shiver ran through his spine, under his several layers of garments he felt the cold, and his mind became suddenly even more congested if that was possible. He grabbed the comforting heavy weight of his lightsaber located near his right hip. Ungloved hand, fingers red due to the temperature that seemed to be dropping suddenly, death gripped the cool silver metal as if his life depended on it. 

Cal was filled with so many different emotions that came and went at what felt like light speed. He thought at first they were his own emotions. That he was having some sort of panic attack. But he hasn't felt this much fear, this much loneliness, since his years back on Bracca. These emotions were not of his own. He took a few calming breaths, leaning against the gray stone wall behind him, the jagged rock of the building digging uncomfortably into his back while he tried to get control of himself. 

His breath hitched when an image of a planet became clear among the sudden haze. Bright sunlight raining down on rocky hills and green plains of grass. It was a place unfamiliar to him. His eyes focused on some desolate ruins on top of the cliffs that actually reminded him of the old Zeffo architecture on Bogano. Cal tried to take in all the images that were being forced onto him, not fighting it anymore. Everything from the environment and the atmosphere was being memorized by the receiver. This was different from the echos he felt with his ability normally. He couldn't control this one, and when the force talks to you so clearly you don't dare ignore it. The Jedi was interrupted from the beautiful landscapes and ruins around him by a flash of shining silver metal and a distant yell, that sounded like a whisper in his own ear, “Kid, we have to go!” 

Then, just like that, he snapped back to his own senses like the quick flick of a light switch. The human’s current perspective was becoming his main focus once again. After a moment of silence, his now white knuckles started to relax around the grip he had on his lightsaber. 

He could hear distant chattering and the howling of a powerful gust of wind. Oh yeah. The alleyway. The black market. He was on a moon in the far outer rims. Not… Wherever he saw. The emotions he felt moments ago began to drift away like the receding tide on Kamino, but he clung to that familiar feeling of overwhelming fear. Even if this fear was not of his own he did not let it escape his thoughts. Old habits die hard. 

Someone, somewhere, reached out to him. For the first time, someone used the force to try and contact Cal Kestis. Someone powerful, more in tune with the force than Cal himself, that was for certain, and they would not be ignored. Not like he was once a long time ago, how he yelled for help for someone to come save him on the dark hectic planet. But no one came for him.

The dull throbbing in his head faded even more. He could feel the pull of something opposite from his pre-planned trajectory. Past the gas giant that covered the sky, farther out than he had been before. The human in the small alley got his bearings, standing up straight and without a second thought, sprang into action with a rush of adrenaline bursting through his body. He careened out of the small alley into a pod of surprised Mon Calamari. Knocking one to the sandy ground, which he did not take too kindly. 

“Oh, my bad! Sorry,” Cal said quickly, grabbing the aquatic humanoid's turquoise arm and yanking him to his feet easily. The others of his group hands hesitated over what he guessed were blasters on their hips. They returned their hands to their sides once they saw their friend was up and there was no actual threat taking place.

He heard some curses being yelled his way as he ran towards his ship at full speed, zig-zagging through the crowds of onlookers he passed earlier, trying not to trip on the heavy sand that covered the ground. Occasionally bumping into shoppers, after which he yelled back haphazard apologies. When he walked this same path not just moments ago, shoppers and vendors alike did not look his way, but now sharp eyes followed his every movement carefully. On guard. They probably thought he stole something from another vendor and was making a run for it. That their wares could suffer the same fate. Looks like he wouldn't be able to buy something here even if he wanted to anymore. Not like that mattered now. 

Eventually, he reached the now slightly sand-covered ship. His body was telling him they weren't ready to take off just yet. They just got here and this ship wasn't the oh so elegant, roomy, Mantis. Cal ignored his body's bellyaching and jumped into the opening at the top of the ship anyway. The blue workers he payed earlier seemed to have just finished refueling the ship, yelling and waving at him to stop. Cal ignored them as he closed the hatch behind him, it hissed while sealing itself shut, safely securing their precious oxygen in the cabin. 

BD-1 trilled curiously ad he jumped onto Cal's back once he entered and took the five brisk steps towards his uncomfortable pilot seat. He practically threw himself into the seat and started preparing for takeoff, flipping switches and turning on the tried and true engine. If they didn't leave now he would lose the pull the force was directing him to. If he lost this echo he may never be able to find who needed his help. 

A terrible thought came to his mind of a left over Inquisitor from the newly fallen Empire finding this force-sensitive. His worst fear and his personal mission for a long time. He spent the last several years helping the rebels and taking down Inquisitors as best he could. However, he never caught up to all of the consumed ex-Jedi. He managed to bring an end to 3 in total, he met one other, a tall Chiss that went by the "third brother", but he managed to escape. After the events of the Holocron Cal finally had a purpose, he was no longer hiding in the shadows like he was back on Bracca. Cal was making a difference, he became the peacekeeper he was meant to be, although not under an order. Nor did he plan to start an Order; a common question asked of him in the past usually from Republic allies. His personal philosophy was that history had a habit of repeating itself. Another Order would only bring eventual destruction to not only others but other force-sensitive children in this world. Their fate lies with the force, not with the Jedi. 

On his many travels, he has seen several children and adults alike have a connection to the force in some manner. Some knew of their abilities, while some laid dormant. But they were all safe as they were then, there was no point in upturning their simple lives.

He promised that the Empire would not lay a single hand on any of those innocent people and he had kept that promise so far, and it wouldn't be broken now. He was like a thorn in the Empire's side they couldn't get out no matter how much they tried. Cal was proud of this fact. Even after the enemy's rule ended, they were still causing terrible destruction to planets and civilization alike. Especially in the outskirts, where the rebellion had no reach. 

That was why he was here. Light years away from his family. They all knew he could take care of himself, and he had proved that time and time again in the past. A few tiny remnants of a once-great army were easy pickings for a Jedi. Not that he enjoyed killing, per se. But to be perfectly honest he enjoyed making a difference, helping those who were subjected to unlucky circumstances. Just as he once was. 

But the pull of this one person, this “kid”. He never felt such power and it wouldn't be able to go unnoticed. He was sure what was left of the Empire would also take notice of this great power. Even after the death of the grand inquisitor, there were those who wanted to take advantage of the universe's life force and use it for their own personal gain. 

Cal wouldn't let them. 

BD-1 clicked and chirped, asking where they were headed. “I felt something, BD. Someone called out to me. We have to follow the signal before it disappears,” Cal exclaimed hastily, as he felt the ship turn towards the sky with a yank of the controls. Through the thick glass of their windshield, they could see both thrusters starting up smoothly and only getting stronger. A quick glance at his fuel meter showed it was close to full, good enough. 

Cal grabbed the controls and started to veer them upwards towards the sky, the ship made several groans and hisses while preparing them for take-off. They could see the workers starting to panic below them as cables and the gas pipe that was still connected to the ship tore free. Fuel spilling all over the stone landing pad. Whoops. 

As they ascended through the planet's atmosphere ice started to cover their view through the glass slightly. BD-1 spoke into his ear where he sat on his shoulder, asking if he could pull the large switch for the light speed. Since he was captain and all. Cal chuckled and made sure they were heading in the right direction, following the strange instincts that lingered within him, he adjusted their direction until it was just right. The ship made a loud beep and a green light flashed, that was the all-clear from the mapping function on the ship.

“Hit it, BD,” Cal said, holding the thrusters steady as BD-1 used his little leg clamp to flip the large switch. The world around them blurred, Cal pressed his body to the back of the seat and prepared himself mentally for the entrance into hyperspace. Something he may never get used to. They were heading towards the endless void of space that lay before them, stars and planets flying past them as magnificent beams of light.


	2. Failure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not very exciting, but we need some boring filler every now and then in order to get to the good stuff. Also thank you for all your lovely comments, they really energize me to keep writing this! You're all absolutely wonderful.

They overshot the mystery planet at first by a few systems. It was even closer than Cal originally thought. That could explain why the message he felt was so strong earlier. But, with hope, that meant they would be the first ones to respond to the unnoticeable plea. From what he saw, specifically from the urgency the voice had, he doubted this. If the remnants of Imperial forces captured the kid…. Well.. He shuddered at the thought and his skin crawled in discomfort. Not only would it make his mission ten times harder but, more importantly, he would have to risk the time this powerful individual would be in dangerous hands. Just an hour or two in the wrong hands could make a most drastic difference. 

It helped calm the human down while piloting the ship knowing that someone was there with the force-sensitive user. Someone trying to protect him, keep him out of the wrong hands. The kid wasn't alone like Cal after the betrayal and death of his master. Those were the worst years of his life. Terrified among the metal and the scrappers, he hid for so long. Surviving by eating anything he could find. Rats, bugs, trash, were all fair game. Once he found the accidentally abandoned poncho that was much too big for his young body at the time he started to blend in and teach himself the trade of the planet. Prauff was the first one to formally teach him everything he needed to know, keeping Cal under his wing. He missed his dear friend considerably, if only he had done something, spoke up before she-... He let the negative thoughts ease away, there was no point in dwelling on them now. All they could do was take action, and that was what he intended on doing. 

After backtracking a few systems they arrived at their location. The pull of the force he felt was like he was a fisherman slowly but surely reeling in his catch. Now that he had the fish out of the water the pressure on the pole lessened. The echo he was feeling was weak now, just barely there. The planet in front of him was unfamiliar, his map told him its title was Tython. That name sounded familiar to the Jedi, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where it came from. It was a very lush, mountain-covered planet with some slight cloud formations that seemed to cradle the sphere gently. 

As they got closer to the planet Cal couldn't stop himself from wishing he wasn't here on a mission, this would be an exquisite planet to lay low on for a couple of days. But they were here on an important task. One he hoped he didn't already fail. Using the information sent to him he could easily recognize the ruins on top of the cliff. It was also a great help that the planet was relatively small, just a bit larger than the average moon. Finding the message's origin location shouldn’t take too long. According to a quick informational scan on the small screen among the crowded dash, there were no ports or townships to land at, boondocking it is. 

“..Please be there,” Cal whispered to himself. Readying the ship for entrance into the atmosphere, pressing the familiar sequence of controls, and flicking two bright red switches at the same time with his fingers that always made a satisfying noise at the action. The ship heated up around the thick layer of gasses that acted as a forcefield for the planet. The engines started to slow in intensity, letting gravity do a majority of the work. BD listened to his friend's comment and reassured him that everything would be ok. It always was, especially with "Captain BD" here to keep him company. 

“Yeah your right, as usual,” the human answered with a slight chuckle louder this time, reaching his arm around and patting the droid's small rectangular head. Cal returned his hand to the controls, keeping them steady as they came closer to the planet's jagged surface. Details of the surface slowly coming into clarity.

“Ok, we just have to find the place I saw in the message. I remember the ruins, but besides that...” Cal was stuck. The echo of the message was no longer helpful, now too faint to be of any use. They would have to find it the hard way, if there was a township they could have asked for some directions, but that would be too easy for the Jedi. “We will have to just fly within the atmosphere and scan the ground, and hopefully the planet mapping will be able to pick up the clearing,” he explained. 

BD beeped in approval, hopping off Cal’s shoulder and onto the worn tan leather seat next to his, and pressed the button for the geographical mapping function. This was something that they have done multiple times when in search of Imperial remnant bases hidden carefully among a planet's natural environment. Underground or above ground, the sensor would pick it up, it was a handy little device. Greez thought it was just taking up room when they first installed the software, but he was probably just trying to keep Cal out of trouble anyway he could. A small gridded screen lit up on the right side of the control dash and began to show a topical view of where ridges, mountains, and rivers were located as they flew high above them. Cal leveled the ship out among the thin cloud coverage and set the ship to autopilot. The eager human then got up from his seat and looked out at the planet's landscape ahead of them, searching for a small brown fleck out of the scanner's radius among the ocean of green. The planet was more stunning up close. He made a mental note to return to Tython when he had some downtime, which, honestly, rarely ever happened. He made several notes like this, but he never made it back to these hidden beauties. But a Jedi could dream. It would be even more appealing to bring his family to one of these noted planets, explore it together. But what would actually happen is Cal, being the impatient person he was, going off to look around on his own. Then proceed to get lost for several hours while his crewmates searched for him in their large ship once a large enough amount of time passed by that made them uncomfortable. 

Captain BD continued analyzing the screen as Cal scanned the horizon for anything they could have missed, with each passing minute becoming more and more impatient. He began to fidget, tapping his foot and occasionally lifting a hand to rub the blurriness from his eyes in order to keep them focused on the never-ending plains below them. The longer they took to arrive, the worse their odds were of finding them in time. It didn't help that it seemed the bright star this planet rotated around began to sink towards the horizon. Making it difficult for Cal's eyes to look to the west out of fear of going blind. The large sky that their ship was swimming in began to turn a shade of warm orange above the green ocean, the colors complementing each other beautifully. His own metallic ship seemed to change color with the setting sun. Just as he started to worry that the darkness of night might make their mission more difficult. He saw it in the corner of his eye to the north. Six large rock formations poking out on the horizon, colored black among the glow of dusk. 

“There it is!” Cal exclaimed loudly, throwing himself back into his seat that gave a squeak in protest at the sudden weight, and grabbed controls for the thrusters. BD-1 climbed onto the back of the chair, holding onto the slightly torn headrest with white stuffing peeking out, whirring excitedly. The human steered the ship to the north, turning off the autopilot and kicking the engines into full power as they started to descend towards their destination. The pilot had to settle for landing the small starship below the mountain; from what he could see there wasn't a convenient clearing at the top of the cliff for him to park at. 

As soon as the landing gear hit the earth Cal immediately swiveled and jumped out of the pilot's seat. He climbed up the small ladder towards the hatch, opening the entrance above him with a loud click of the handle. The first thing he noticed was the bright orange of the sky above him, leaking through the hatch and washing the rest of the ship in its gentle warm glow. Fresh air wafted into his small ship. The warm temperature that flooded the interior was a stark contrast to their last location, the sudden change in climate giving him goosebumps. 

“Come on, bud,” Cal held out his poncho covered arm for his droid to jump on to. The droid swiftly climbed up his arm and onto his back, into the usual comfortable fit. Nowadays Cal’s back almost felt like it was missing something without the droid literally holding onto and watching his back. 

The Jedi climbed up the dark grey ladder and out of the hatch with practiced ease and jumped out of the ship, hitting the rocky earth below roughly for the second time that day. He circled, taking in everything around him. It was quiet, and even stranger, simply still. Not even a breeze to move the green botanicals around him or the limp clothing on his body. There was no sign of a ship beside his own. No voices of any sort. Just complete silence surrounded by a smoldering sky that seemed to consume all the other colors. 

He turned his head upwards towards his sole reason for coming to this beautiful planet. The rocky pillars at the top of the mountain poked out behind an outcropping in the cliff. It was about 150 feet up to the top, a walk in the park for someone like him. 

“...Hello?” He yelled cautiously, unsure of who could be listening. The sound of his own voice echoed. It felt much louder than it actually was. There was no response. A bad sign.

Immediately Cal started up the hill. It wasn't steep enough that he needed to find anything to gain leverage with. He jogged up the hill, breath coming out steadily, switching between his nose and mouth in a long-practiced method. Moving efficiently, he jogged around boulders and large shrubs, occasionally using the force to get a much higher jump than was normally possible. When you spend years traversing all sorts of different planets, on top of that exploring dangerous environments and fighting enemies you start to reach levels of stamina one would have thought unfeasible. It didn't take the human long to reach the top. Cal not even breaking a sweat after the climb. 

It felt like Deja vu, but the strongest sense of the word. The location was exactly what he was shown back at the black market, detail for detail. The six rocky pillars fairly far apart from one another, in a circle, held up with supports made of the same material. Each holding the same cracks and unsymmetrical edges he tried to memorize hours ago. The same mountains on the horizon. The same steps leading towards the circular stone with plant life growing through the cracks in the middle of it all. The runes around the base of the stone even clearer. The only difference was the setting sun behind him, casting long dark shadows that seemed to make the situation even more grim. His heart dropped. Just as he feared. No one was here. 

“Hello?!” He called frantically. His voice echoing back to him at a louder frequency. Two blue butterflies that were hiding in the bushes around the rim of the circular clearing, most likely getting ready to rest in the incoming nightfall, flew about widely. He walked forward, looking for any kind of sign that someone was there. But he saw no one hiding behind the center stone or around the pillars.

He walked firmly towards the other side of the mountain. His shadow as big as the rock formations surrounding him, the sun had almost totally dissapeared now. What Cal saw on the other side of the mountain was a clear indicator that they arrived too late. 

White flecks lay strewn about the valley of the cliff below. These were flecks were in actuality several dozen clone trooper bodies laid upon the landscape. There was also a clearing farther away where a large dark crater stood out, he could see pieces of metal and ash even from this distance. It seemed something big may have gotten incinerated, most likely a starship that stood no chance of the powerful weapon in its sights. The more he looked at the terrain below the more clone trooper bodies he spotted, but no sign of anyone else. A small breath of relief flowed through his tense body. 

“Maybe they got away, BD,” Cal explained hopefully. BD patted his back reassuringly with a rubber foot clamp. Turning back around the Jedi stared at the oddly familiar center stone. It was very similar to Zeffo architecture as he expected, but not exactly the same. The more he looked at them the more different they seemed.

Cal walked forward and kneeled down next to the foundation. BD jumped off his shoulder and onto the top of the stone, scanning the material and the runes. The human left his friend to his studies and decided it was time to get to the gist of what happened here.

One thing about his rare ability was that it was like a double-edged sword. He could see the echo of the object's past interferences using what's called psychometry. He could see how an item was used, how it came to be, and another beings emotions associated with it. Both good and bad experiences. The good ones were favorable, but the bad ones… well, he got better at handling those over the years. Cal took a deep breath and calmed his head, then he reached his ungloved hand out and touched the surprisingly warm stone. Images flew through his mind rapidly.

First nothing but silence. The same silence he felt on the planet when he first arrived. This place was void of sentient life for a long time. Then a familiar voice pierces through the veil. He sees them. A distinctly silver Mandalorian and a small green creature, dressed in what seemed to be a burlap sack cradled carefully in an armor covered arm. The Mandalorian sounds confused when he speaks. The way he says in a muffled voice, “Does this look Jedi to you,” is almost humorous. As a Jedi himself, Cal wasn't sure whether it was "Jedi" or not. It was a valid question. A flash of blue colors his vision and then the events around him pick up pace quickly. 

The Mandalorian unable to reach the child due to a force field of some sort decides to go fight the oncoming danger. He could hear the explosions, the blaster fire, the distant screams that echoed like his own voice earlier. The Mandalorian returned, he tried but failed to reach the child again. After some obvious frustration, he explained soothingly that he would protect him, that he would return, before running back off towards the fighting in the distance. Then he could feel the same loneliness and the anxiety he felt at the black market from the small child on the circular foundation. This small green child was the one who sent the message out. They were so young, for him to have felt so much suffering so early in his life, it made Cal's own heart ache. 

After the blue-tinted force field fades away powerful enemies soon appear. He had heard rumors of this model battle droids, but had never seen their power. They reminded him of his past experience with the Imperial security droids, but these were less tall and instead much more bulkier. Most likely holding new powerful weapons within that bulk. Cal witnessed one of these new abilities, the jets on their feet, who to his horror, efficiently landed and picked up the child, rocketing away all within a single second. The squad of droids flew directly up towards the Imperial cruiser that they were deployed from. These were a high-class droid and were not found among the average Imperial infantry. The Mandalorian reappeared at that moment, but he was too late. The child was taken.

That was all the echo held for him. Cal came back to the present. The sky was now darker than before and filled with billions of distant stars and planets, gray clouds blocking some of the view of the galaxy the planet resided in. BD still stood on the top of the seeing stone, beeping curiously, asking his friend what he had seen. The human couldn't make eye contact with the cheerful droid. His head fell in the wave of despair that drowned him. He sank fully to his knees next to the stone as he finally realized what he had hoped wouldn't happen, he had been too late. Perhaps if he was here, he could have protected the defenseless child. Maybe if he didn't destroy the holocron all those years ago... If he just did what Cere suggested, none of this would have happened. 

“They got him, BD... The Empire got here first,” He explained in anguish. Cal sat there, staring at his own lap, hands limp in front of him, red hair falling over his eyes, blocking his view of his friend. The promise he had worked so long for was broken. He had faile- 

Cal took a soothing slow breath. In and out. In and out. No, he didn't fail. There was still time. Time he was wasting sitting here doing nothing. He had spent a long part of his youth sitting around and waiting for something to happen, doing absolutely nothing. He hasn’t made that same mistake since. The events that took place happened only today. There was also the Mandalorian, he wouldn't let the child go easily from what he saw. The warrior was probably hunting down the Empire now. Cal held hope. Hope that either the Mandalorian or himself would reach the child in time before the Empire had their way. 

The Jedi got off his knees, dusted off the brown dirt from his pants, standing up straight, and pushing his hair back. “There’s still time,” he said to his friend, determination filling his voice. BD cheered and jumped energetically, a warm smile spread across Cal's lightly freckled face at the sight. The droid turned on his flashlight so they could see the ground in front of them, and jumped onto his hip and worked his way up to his shoulder. The droid was his light in this vast darkness that surrounded them. Both literally and figuratively, thought Cal humorously.

“We need to find the Imperial light cruiser that is holding the child. It has to be hiding in the outer rim. They wouldn't risk going anywhere near New Republic protected territories,” he reasoned out loud. 

“This isn't going to be easy to find.. ” They started back towards their ship. Careful to not fall on the way down in the darkness. “There's no point in trying to contact the Republic. They have no idea what goes on out here, and the less the Empire knows of my tracking them the better. We have the element of surprise on our side.” BD beeped in agreement. The droid on his shoulder also brought up the fact that if they could reach an Imperial terminal he could find the coordinates of the light cruiser easily. Being the genius he was, of course.

That would probably be the quickest way to find the child’s location. Cal thought for a second of where they could find an Empire base. He supposed the easiest way to get to a terminal was if they continued on that lead he was given, towards that unofficated planet. All they had to do was reach the docking bay. Cal could defend BD while he spliced the information, but the less attention they brought to themselves the better. The last thing they needed was the Empire finding out Cal was hunting them down and making a run for it with the child in hand. Stealth would also give them a leg up on the situation, a whole light cruiser full of troops, powerful droids, and perhaps even an Inquisitor was not something to shrug off haphazardly.

“Alright, BD. Let's follow that lead,” The human picked up his speed back downhill, already planning the route he had to take in order to get back on track towards that lead. They would be there as soon as he could. Not much longer, he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be from Din's POV. I'm honestly unsure how it will go exactly, just depends on how that final episode of the season goes this Friday. Hopefully will have another update this coming weekend. This one much more exciting too ;)


	3. Come with us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a long one! I spent all day yesterday and today writing this. Also tripled checked for possible grammar errors, I know the last chapter was a bit messy (I was a little too excited to post it, whoops). Thank you for all your kudos and comments, they really make my day!

Din Djarin considered himself an uncomplicated man, being true, honest, following the codes of his covert. He considered word of mouth the most sacred promise one could make. He was raised this way. You keep your word and you keep your honor. Simple, and he liked it that way. It not only creates a positive reputation for yourself but for your fellow comrades as well. Nothing irritated him more than Mandalorians that soiled that reputation for his fellow brothers and sisters.

Ever since he became a foundling, he was always grateful for the second chance at life his people gave Din. He spent his childhood finding a new purpose after he was stripped of everything he knew, among others who went through something similar. Community and morale was especially strong among the foundlings. He learned to live his life following the Children of the Watch’s strict codes with pride with his brothers and sisters and it was an honor to become a true Mandalorian when he became of age. Putting his helmet on for the first time, knowing that it wasn't going to come off in front of anyone else ever again. It was the happiest moment of his life since the destruction of his home and the loss of his family long ago. In the years that passed by the Mandalorian he never even had the notion of taking off his helmet. To disgrace his people. The people that gave him a new life, a new start in this unforgiving universe. He wouldn't ever. If someone told him a year ago that he was going to take off his precious helmet willingly, in front of several Imperial soldiers, well he would have ended himself right then and there. 

But then the child burst into his life and began destroying all of his preconceived ideals. The moment he knew something changed in him was at that moment when that security terminal forced him to take off his helmet. It was truly awful, worse than any injury before this. Din had dealt with blaster wounds, knives in his joints, eaten and trampled by a multitude of wild animals. But this was much more. It made him feel vulnerable, weak, he felt like he disgraced his people and himself. All just for some light cruiser coordinates. But would he do it again? In a heartbeat. 

The kid came into his life and became his everything, his new purpose, and his foundling. They were their own clan of two. He wouldn't let anything or anyone get in the way of that. After so many years of traveling alone, having company was a pleasant change of pace. It was annoying at first, but the child grew on him fast. Din would say he became selfish, and if someone accused him of this he wouldn't dispute the fact. Self-serving behavior was frowned upon among the Children of the Watch. But that didn't matter right now because all that mattered to him was getting the child back to where he belonged. 

The long hallways of the light cruiser were dark and cold. He could hear distant blaster fire thanks to Bo-Katan leading the others to take control. His heart was racing and he was sweating underneath the armor as he snuck through the Imperial spacecraft, ducking into the shadows as storm troopers ran by. He wanted to bring the least attention to him as possible, they were on a very strict time limit. 

Din was close to the child now, close to having him be safe. Then they would get off this ship and they would get out of here, somewhere quiet. Where they could recuperate and get some credits under his belt for a new ship. A ship that had a place just for the child, somewhere he could put the child to keep him safe with comfortable bedding, also with more food storage opportunities. The kid seemed to always be hungry, annoyingly so at moments. One thing at a time, Din reminded himself. Trying to stay focused on the delicate situation he found himself in. First the kid, details later.

They went into this massive spacecraft with a solid plan of action. But things never went the way they were supposed to nowadays. The dark trooper’s had activated and powered up before he could reach the brig. It was only thanks to some quick, panicked, strategizing he was able to get rid of the majority of them using the airlock temporarily. Just the one dark trooper got free that he had to deal with. Honestly, it really gave him a beating too. His head still pulsated inside his helmet from the dozen powerful punches that had caused his head to rocket around inside the helmet. He could still hear the loud noise of metal on metal colliding repeatedly in his ears. 

Din was trained in all sorts of weapons and hand to hand combat as a foundling, thankfully, spears being one of them. He was a little rusty but it ended up doing the job nicely against the single sturdy droid. The pure beskar spear was becoming a handy tool. He was able to defend himself and get the upper hand using the long weapon.

After defeating the new enemy he had to deal with two storm troopers who guarded the large brig doors. These were much easier enemies and he handled them with the practiced ease that only comes from experience. With no more obstacles in his way, he reached the brig keypad and hastily opened the thick shield doors. He took one step in and immediately froze as ice entered his veins at the sight in front of him. Grogu was sitting up, looking exhausted, handcuffs around his dainty hands, on a much too large metal bench for his small body. Moff Gideon was also an unexpected obstacle in Din’s plan as Bo-Katan was supposed to be dealing with him. Once again he had to make up for other people's part in the plan, a common occurrence when working with others.

The Mandalorian didn't dare move due to the black glowing sword above the familiar delicate green head. The blade seemed to emit some sort of high frequency when it moved about the air. It probably wasn't comfortable on the child's large ears either. 

Moff Gideon, wearing his comically large black cape and steel armor, that looked like it wouldn't protect him at all. Began to speak nonsense, forcing Din to drop his blaster he had at the ready. The intimidating man began talking of the power within the weapon in his hand. If the man could see Din's face underneath the helmet would have noticed the most uninterested look during his speal. He was just waiting, biding his time for the right moment to get the upper hand on the situation. The Mandalorian didn't care about any of the seemingly important things his enemy spoke of, he wasn't looking for any power and he made that clear. “You keep it, I just want the kid,” Din explained after Gideon was done with his monologue, sword still poised to finish the other half of his clan. Their enemy took a moment then answered, explaining he only wanted the child's blood, and more surprisingly that they would be free to go. Deactivating the dark saber with a flip of a switch and taking a step away to prove his point. 

Din, of course, didn't trust a word he said. Life in a bounty hunters guild, a place full of liars of all sorts, taught him not to have the same expectations of his own kind when it came to keeping their word. Din walked forward gradually, his guard up, side-eyeing Gideon under his helmet, one hand behind him on the hilt of the spear. The attack would come at any moment. He just needed to get the child out of harm's way first. Grogu wasn't the one wearing a full cowl of beskar. 

As soon as he was about to pick the child up and Gideon was out of his sight for only a second he could hear the distinct noise of the dark saber activating. Immediately he lept into action, staggering back and protecting himself with his arms up as he felt the pressure of the blade slamming into his armor, heating the metal at each point of contact. Som strikes even burning his skin underneath. First, it struck his back, then his side, then his arms over and over again. He was pushed backward at the force, but he kept his footing, once he fell and exposed himself it would be over. They were pushed out of the small room and into the hallway where he came from, mindful of the storm trooper bodies as he walked backward. Once he got enough space between Gideon and himself, he retrieved the spear from his back. 

No pleasantries were exchanged after this point. No more talking, just ruthless strike after ruthless strike. It was a battle of not only strength, Gideon having a surprising amount of as he pushed Din backward, his blade cutting and melting through the thick wall next to them with no resistance. But it was also a battle of skill and stamina. This was where the Mandalorian held the upper hand, trained to fight alone and bide his time until the enemy started to tire themselves out. It was only one move he did on instinct, where he kicked the hilt of the spear up with the heel of his brown boot and around his arm, that changed the tide of the fight. 

Gideon was all offense when it came to dueling. Once he needed to protect himself and switch to a more defensive style he started to become overwhelmed. First Din knocked the dark saber to the floor behind him, the loud clunk of it falling to the ground echoed throughout the dark hallways. Then with no hesitation, he slammed the hilt of the silver spear against Gideon's bare head with a resounding crack of his skull, and his enemy fell to the floor. Not dead yet though. The armored warrior thought of ending it there as he raised the staff and aimed the beskar spear to his head. Gideon's cold eyes stared at him, as if they were trying to look through the dark glass on his helmet, trying to read a facial expression. But Din thought otherwise at the last moment. The general had information they needed, important information they may not be able to get their hands on if he finished it now. Like, what they were doing with the child's blood? What was the Empire planning out here? He was sure Cara would enjoy getting some important remnant Empire base locations for the New Republic as well. 

They needed him alive. Gideon scoffed at his nonlethal resolution. Probably yearning for the release rather than be captured. Din wasn't going to let him go that easy, he always prided himself on his ability to take bounties alive. He moved backward slowly, spear still raised to strike in case his foe got any ideas. The Mandalorian moved backward until he was where the dark saber fell to the ground and leaned down and picked it up. It was hefty, the rectangular hilt made of pure silver beskar. He looked down and saw the black switch among all the details on the long hilt. The blade that appeared when he pressed the button made that distinct noise again, it was almost mesmerizing as he moved it around. The dark light that emitted from the weapon made him squint his eyes, even behind the protective glass that covered his face it was still alarmingly bright. 

Din put the spear back into its clip next to his jetpack and aimed the saber at Gideon who only continued staring from his place on the floor, speechless now. That's when Grogu appeared through the doorway, stumbling clumsily along with handcuffs that seemed to be heavier than him. Din walked forward briskly, immediately using the tip of the sword to cut through the silver handcuffs carefully, once broken apart they opened and fell to the ground. The child squeaked happily and held his arms up, blinking at him tiredly and waiting patiently to be held. The Mandalorian did not have the heart to refuse him. 

“Are you ok? Did they hurt you?”Din asked quickly, leaning down and picking the kid up to hold with one arm, the other arm still poised to finish Gideon. He checked Grogu for wounds again now that he had a better view of the kid. No signs of blood, all movement was ok, no crying. Grogu was only a little shaken up, and Din could handle that. As soon as the kid was in his arms he held Din’s finger tightly and leaned back into his chest with a small gurgle. A loud breath of relief flew from Din’s body from behind the helmet, and the ice in his veins finally started to melt. It was like everything just clicked into place. The child was back to where he belonged, safe and protected, and the Mandalorian wouldn't let him go again. 

After a heartful reunion, he side-eyed Gideon, death stare underneath the helmet. The man wasn't daring to move, not like he had a weapon to use against them. “Isn't that cute,” he said mockingly. Din ignored his comment and waved for him to stand up, the saber loud as if it spoke when he motioned with it. He had him move towards the command center of the ship, Grogu and Din following closely behind him. 

He would turn in Gideon to Dune and that would be that. He would get the reward, get a new spaceship, and lay low for a bit. Continue their journey to find a Jedi for the child, which was looking more improbable with each passing planet. He occasionally found himself thinking of the child becoming a real foundling, train Grogu as a true Mandalorian. It was a ridiculous thought, but one he occasionally let himself enjoy. It wouldn't work, they aged too differently. He belonged with his own kind, someone who could train and harness his spectacular abilities. Abilities that could protect him from anyone that tried to harm him again. Ashoka would have done a good job as a mentor, she was kind, powerful, and had good morals. But a little part of him was happy she didn't take him. Din wasn't ready to give up the kid just yet. Once again he found himself becoming more and more selfish.

After a quiet walk to the others through the eerily silent ship. They made it to the large doors. He was happy to see Fennec and Cara perfectly fine, those two could handle themselves, he didn't have much to worry about. Bo-Katan on the other hand was staring at him in disbelief when he walked through the large entryway. This one he still didn't trust. She only helped them in self interest, not to aid another Mandalorian, not for the child.

Cara came up and inspected the child, rubbing one of his big ears gingerly, and explaining merrily they could double the reward for Gideon’s bounty thanks to Din bringing him in alive. That would be great, with that sort of money he could get them a new ship. He nodded in thanks at her words and walked forward to hand Bo-Katan the dark saber. He didn't want to make an enemy of her and he had no need for the weapon more than she did. He held it out to her but she did not take it. Her green eyes just continued to bore into him. 

“Take it,” he said simply, about ready to just place it on the table nearest to them and be done with the whole thing. Gideon spoke up then from his place on the small step in the command room, his face full of joy at the conflict before him. He explained what the dark saber was. That it was a weapon that gave power in the sense that whoever owned it was the rightful ruler to Mandalore. There was nothing left of their home planet, ravaged by war and greed. Din had no need or want for it. But he couldn't just give it up as he had hoped according to the joyous Imperial general, enjoying the conflict Bo-Katan was going through. To have the rightful rule of the darksaber you needed to win it in battle. 

“I yield,” Din answered again simply. Growing tired of this game, what did they not understand. He wanted nothing to do with this. He may consider himself selfish but not that selfish. Bo-Katan just stood there in her royal blue armor, looking conflicted, eyes darting between him and the blade. 

“Come on, take it,” he insisted. He really wanted to avoid a fight for his life over a sword he didn't even want. But after a moment her gaze faded and softened. “He’s right,” she said exasperatedly, turning away from him with a huff. Before he could insist once more alarms started blaring from the comms and the control panel. He put the darksaber next to his jetpack on the opposite clip from the spear. Hidden away by his brown cloak from dangerous eyes. 

Bo-Katan rushed over to the security screens investigating the new issue. A slow disturbing smile spread across Gidon's face, he knew what had come. Din could make a guess too. He didn't kill all those dark troopers earlier. He hoped they would be gone before they returned from their small trip in the vacuum of space, but life was never easy. They returned, flying back into the ship and through the docking bay. At least two dozen dangerous red blips were flying into the ship on the white security screen. 

There was no way they could take all of them, even with a group of the best riflemen this side of the galaxy. Din knew with experience that these droids took blaster shots like it was nothing. They only had a few weak points, his team would have to get up close and personal to fight them. But with the dark troopers carrying heavy assault blasters of their own he doubted that up close was not an option. That didn't leave many options.

His beskar would protect him from blaster shots, but he couldn't take them all down with a spear before getting pummeled. He immediately walked to the other side of the large room, placing the child behind the command table. It was the best cover he could offer from stray fire. The kid stared at him when he put him on the ground, large dark eyes looking nervously at him. “Don't worry kid, I’ll get you out of here,” He promised, placing a comforting hand on Grogu’s little head before standing back up. 

The droids were getting close now. Katan yelled to close the blast doors, her loyal patron followed her command and pressed the button on the control panel just as the dark troopers were about to round the bend. His teammates began to prepare themselves for a battle they knew had a very low chance of success. The stress in the large room was thick enough to choke. Din has dealt with a lot of things in his life, from giant creatures to the smallest assassin that gave him a run for his money. But there wasn't a chance they could come out of this fight unscathed, something or someone was going to give. 

Gideon began to talk again from where he was pushed to the floor earlier. Even their enemy could feel the stress in the room and he went to psych them out, saying idiocy like, once this was all over the only ones alive at the end of this would be himself and the child. Did this guy ever shut up, Din thought to himself. It seemed everyone was just as tired of his speeches because none of his teammates gave the man any mind. 

Cara got her massive blaster ready to fire. The two blue Mandalroians put their helmets on and raised their respective two pistols. Fennec also was ready with a powerful weapon of her own. Din followed their example and had his trusty pistol at the hip, ready to kill. He kept in mind the spear and dark saber on his back. He would probably be the one to get up close to the droids in order to kill them if things started to go south. 

It was quiet as they heard loud, nerve-wracking, marching making its way towards them from the other side of the thick steel doors. Then the loud pounding on the blast doors began, and the ground underneath them vibrated at the impact. They all jumped a bit at that first loud clang of metal on metal. Din took a quick look behind him at the child, who was terrified, dark eyes staring at him. Oh, how he wanted to hold the kid then, keep him protected using the precious armor on his body. The second bang brought his attention back to the thick metal doors that were now starting to crater in on itself from the impacts little by little. These droids were ready to kill all of them at any cost, no hesitation. Perhaps the human factor of a soldier was holding an army back.

These killing machines would burst through at any moment, then he had no idea what would happen. The blast doors started to split apart just slightly. Any moment now... 

Suddenly the control panel lit up with another red blip followed by an alarm from the comms overhead. He whipped his head around, looking towards the large windowpane, a window to the beautiful galaxies and stars around them, to see a small starcraft passing by quietly and going into the docking bay without hesitation. 

“A patrol ship? It looks republic manufactured,” Bo-Katan explained, putting her guns in their holsters and watching the security footage of the docking bay and sending a transmission. “Pilot, state your business?” There was no answer over the comms.

“Great, one ship, some help that's gonna be,” Dune said sarcastically, her gun still aimed at the slowly caving in doors. Din stayed where he was ready to shoot the droids at the moment of their entrance. Some help was better than no help. Could it be Greef Carga, perhaps with a few reinforcements. Maybe Mayfield here to repay the favor. Or another enemy; with their luck lately, that was a good guess. 

Then the loud pounding on the door stopped abruptly, just as it seemed the doors were about to give. The droid's objectives were suddenly preoccupied with a new target. Their loud footsteps echoed through the ship as the dark troopers went back the way they came. Din stood there utterly confused, he checked behind him again and saw the child had moved up onto a large black chair and was staring at a security screen on the control panel with the utmost interest.

“... It’s a Jedi,” Bo-Katan whispered quietly. But Din heard her, and that caught his attention. He briskly walked to the security screens next to Katan and stared at the white and black footage to see the Jedi for himself. After all this time of trying to find a Jedi, did one actually find them? Perhaps their luck was changing. 

He watched silently as the poncho-covered individual, it’s hood up, jogged through the compound. It looked like a small droid sat on their shoulder as well. The Jedi slashed swiftly with lethal intent. Quickly dashing forward, quicker than the camera could keep up, to an enemy and cutting them in half before they even had a chance to aim and fire. The Jedi used a bright double-sided lightsaber, turning and thrusting it like a short bow staff with dangerous accuracy. The Mandalorian watched with interest, enemies far forgotten, as the Jedi pulled one of the droids towards himself, using the same abilities he had seen Grogu use on the metallic ball joint, and forced the saber into its chest and ripped upwards, sparks flying everywhere. 

It was definitely one of the Jedi he was told about. But this one was not like Ashoka, not in the slightest. They didn't have the same grace in battle or the same thought out set of powerful moves. This Jedi fought on instinct alone, taking each enemy as they came with quick ruthless efficiency. They dropped like flies on the footage, he would say he felt bad for the droids, but he didn't. 

Apparently, this was the moment Gideon was waiting for, why he spent so long talking about nothing and sitting there like he would and has never tried to hurt anyone. Their new prisoner abruptly stood up and fired a small blaster into Bo-Katan, all five of the shots hitting her beskar but still pushing her to the ground. Din could see her comrade run to aide her leader out of the corner of his eye. But then the gun was pointed at the child. Din acted on impulse, running and jumping into the path of the deadly red beam, taking the shot in the chest with only a weak sting as repercussion. 

Din watched from where he laid on the floor, a little out of breath on the floor at his quick action, as Gideon raised the pistol to his own head. Trying to find a final way out of his ugly situation. Cara stopped him, using the metallic butt of her gun to push the standard grade blaster out of his hands and onto the floor, and whipped him over the head with the hard metal as well. 

Moff Gideon fell to the floor limp, unconscious for what would be a good long while. They wouldn't have to worry about him for a while. Din got up off the cold hard ground and looked behind him. The child stood there unharmed, now on top of the large control dash, staring at Din as if nothing happened. The child then turned his head back to the screen, his small 3 fingered hand reaching for the glass. His savior strode over and leaned down to look at the screen too, placing a gentle orange-tipped gloved hand on his back protectively. He couldn't help but notice how warm the child was through the clothing, he must be chilly in this empty space ship. 

The Jedi on the screen was now reaching the hallway just outside of their location. Running around the corner, the handful of dark troopers left immediately took aim and fired. He watched as the figure spun his lightsaber, blocking the hundreds of shots with pinpoint accuracy. Some shots even redirected back towards the dark troopers, but they didn't do much damage. Once the Jedi got close to them the shiny back droids didn't stand a chance. 

The Jedi flipped in the air, the small droid clutching tighter to its riders back when he did so, and slashing one mid-air. Taking its head clean off. Then followed by stabbing two droids in half using the opposite ends of his saber. One took a shot at him and he rolled to the ground swiftly and cut its legs out from under it, smoke spraying everywhere from the pressure tubes that worked through its legs. He then stabbed it through its middle after it fell to the ground. The red of the dark trooper's optics faded to black after a moment, its chest smoking. He could hear all this fighting right outside the door. The screen had a tiny bit of delay. The child looked away from the screen and babbled at Din, pointing to the figure who was now making their way to the door.

Was this the person Grogu called out to? Or did this person see Grogu from the seeing stone? This stranger was dangerous, if Din wasn't nervous about the dark troopers he was definitely nervous about this one. But the look in the child's dark brown eyes held no fear. Not like when he was captured by Gideon or when they were jumped on Tatooine. There was trust in those eyes, whether for Din to trust Grogu or to trust the Jedi, he wasn't sure. Either way, he was telling Din this person was no threat, and the Mandalorian believed him. 

“Open the doors,” Din ordered. Placing the child in his arms and making his way towards the battered doors. 

“Wha-” Katan started but he interrupted her with a curt, “Do it.” She huffed from behind him and the doors opened with a slow creak. His comrades were ready to shoot behind him, but he knew now this Jedi wasn't a threat to them. Knowing people had his back though, on the slim chance he was wrong, did give Din a little comfort. 

White smoke pooled into the room and the figure turned their head away from the control panel they were using to get the door open, face covered by a black hood. The bright orange of his lightsaber lit the entire dark hallway behind them. Dark trooper limbs twitched occasionally in pieces on the floor next to them. The Jedi straightened their back slowly and turned their lightsaber off, putting it on a clip at their hip. A clear sign that they meant no harm. The small white and red droid on his back studied them, the blue light of its optics staring curiously at Din and the child. 

Then the Jedi lifted their hands up slowly, a smart move when there were several guns trained on him, and pushed his black poncho hood back. The Jedi was human. Pale, windswept red-hair, with green eyes, that first stared at the Mandalorian then to the child in his hands. 

“..Are you Jedi?” Din asked first. 

“Yeah, I am, and I've been looking everywhere for you two,” he answered in a cheerful voice. Immediately his voice reminded Din of Omera’s, kind, at peace, simply happy. The redhead took a slow experimental step forward, when no one shot him he continued towards Din and Grogu with a little more confidence. His scuffed up black boots hardly made a noise as he walked forward. His poncho had several tears and holes in it, the orange on the top quarter of it too bright among the rest of his outfit. The design was from a large scrapper guild, however, he couldn't remember which one. His face was lightly freckled, he had a slight scruff that matched his hair and 3 large scars on his face, the largest one running diagonally from his cheek to neck, another going from his cheek and around the bridge of his nose, and a smaller one threw his right eyebrow. 

“My name’s Cal. Cal Kestis,” he said once he got close to Din. The small droid on his back suddenly began beeping loudly. “Oh, and this is BD-1.” His green eyes, almost the same color as the child's skin, focused on Grogu. He then spoke to the little one in Din’s arms, “We're here to help you guys out.” The kid answered with his usual babble and reached a hand out. Cal turned and looked around at all the bodies strewn about among the command center.

“It seems you have it covered, we were a little late to the party.” The Jedi leaned down, getting on the child’s level, “Sorry about that. I tried to get here as soon as possible,” Cal said to the bundle in Din’s arms, taking the hand that was held out to him gently. The child clutched the blacked gloved finger with a happy squeal. At this point all the other members of their group fully began to relax, letting out a breath of relief and their guns falling to their sides. 

“Actually you saved our asses back there with those killer droids,” Cara said, resting her gun on the ground and leaning against the metallic wall. The stress that was in the air just a bit ago had all but dissipated. 

“I’m happy I could be of some help to you guys,” Cal answered, moving his finger and Grogu’s hand in a mock handshake.

“How did you find us?” Din asked, watching carefully as the Jedi continued to interact with the child. It was nice to meet another person who treated the child with the utmost care like Dune and Carga did, a good change of pace to the usual strangers. 

“This little one yelled out to me back on Tython. But I only showed up after the Empire took the child, tracking you two wasn't easy,” Cal explained calmly, straightening back up to his full height. He was almost the same height as Din, just slightly shorter and way less bulky. A lot of Din’s bulk was thanks to his layers and heavy armor though, so that didn't count. 

The child squirmed to be put down and Din didn't argue, setting the child on his feet. Grogu stumbled over to Cal hugging his leg and looking up at him, “...Oh ok, little buddy.” Grogu’s new friend leaned down and picked him up with great care and cradled him in his arms as the droid started to scan the child, who cooed with interest in response. Din reached out to stop the small droid. But Cal quickly spoke up.

“Don't worry! He’s just doing a quick scan making sure he’s uninjured.” Din only barely withheld himself, still uncomfortable with most droids. BD-1 finished its scan and beeped into Cal’s ear. 

“He's a little low on his blood count but besides that, he's fine. Probably just tired.” The child looked at the little droid on the Jedi’s shoulder, reaching up and touching the bottom of it’s rectangular head. The little droid beeped excitedly and leaned into the hand. 

The Mandalorian just stared at them. Cal Kestis holding the child gingerly with the care he deserved. Someone who could protect the kid better than Din could, teach him to use his abilities too. The droid beeping at the child, trying to have some sort of conversation with Grogu. Who was more than happy to pretend to understand the droid. After all that happened, was this it? 

“...Does he want to go with you?” Din forced himself to ask. This was his mission, the Mandalorian had been working towards this for so long. But he did not feel relief knowing he had completed the task the Armorer gave him. Cal looked up at him again in surprise, his eyes darted from the child and back to Din for a moment. 

“I believe we were once at Coruscant together, both training as padawans at the same time. Maybe, at one point, he would have wanted to go with me, but now….” Cal handed the child out for Din to take. Whom immediately went to grab the precious goods, Grogu more than happy to be held by the cold armor of his beskar. 

“He should be with you. You have a bond with him,” The Jedi explained, patting the child’s head with his ungloved hand. The small white hairs on its head becoming ruffled.

“He needs to be trained by a Jedi,” Din continued explaining. “He has abilities that he can’t control fully.” 

Cal stepped back and looked around at the bodies laid about the room, taking special interest in the passed out general on the ground. “You two have a special bond. Relationships like that shouldn't be broken.” Cal explained, walking forward and looking at Moff Gideon's body lying on the ground. “I won't take that away from him.” 

Din sighed. Another Jedi turned him down, great. It's not like Jedi were just hanging around ready for the picking, and Grogu still needed to be trained desperately. His mission was still not complete. Din wasn't sure whether he was annoyed or delighted at this turn of events. But the kid had to learn to control whatever Ashoka mentioned at the campfire that night. Something about their attachment to each other leading to the child's downfall? But this Jedi had a friend, a small droid, he seemed attached to this droid as well, and he didn't seem “consumed”. This force stuff didn't make any sense. They needed help. Din Djarin needed help, something he only got used to asking of others in the last year, but he couldn't do this on his own.

“...Would you train him? If I didn't leave his side,” Din asked turning around and facing the Jedi who was now leaning down and getting a good look at Moff Gideon, specifically the darksaber holster. “Will you come with us,” Din continued before Cal could answer. The Jedi looked back at the Mandalorian in sudden shock. BD-1 beeped excitedly, doing a twirl and jumping from one shoulder to the other, like he just agreed without even giving Cal time to process what Din had asked of him. 

“... I don't thi-” Cal started but was cut off with loud alarms coming over the ship’s comms. Red lights overhead flashing this time. They all turned around and looked out the window once again. This time a stark white Imperial cruiser, the backdrop of space making it appear brighter, was set on their path. It was most likely just out of hyperspace, ready to get the jump on the pirates commandeering the large cruiser. The Empires forces were weak as it was, they weren't going to let go of this ship without a fight. The general, still unconscious on the floor, must have ordered backup before Din could get a hold of him, and it finally arrived. The white ship ahead of them had several intimidating cannons on the top of it, one of the deadly weapons started shining a bright blue from it’s port, getting ready to fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, original plot time! Time to get wild, time to get crazy. I'm hoping to stick with the habit of updating at least every 4 days. See ya soon


	4. Time to go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I went back and fixed up a lot of grammatical issues and some pacing problems in the previous chapters. There is about 1500 words of new details in the last few chapters, but nothing important, no worries.

A bright blue beam of light burst out of the cannon before any of them even began towards the controls with the hope of moving the massive cruiser out of harm's way. The light grew brighter and brighter as it got closer to the ship, almost blinding when it hit the left side of the ship. But there was no explosion upon impact. No warning alarms from the ship's command center. In actuality, the opposite occurred. The ship became dark, lifeless, the white noise of the whirring engines far below them slowing down to a complete stop. Now all they could hear was each other's quick breathing. The large room they found themselves in turned pitch black. The only light coming from their enemy slowly moving towards them, reflecting light from its metallic surface using the distant stars. 

“An Ion cannon,” Bo-Katan exclaimed to herself once the lights went out. She briskly made her way towards the controls of the massive craft. She tested various buttons and switches, clicking loudly at the movements, but there was no change on the dark panel. The ship that was only moments ago their worst enemy was now just a dead hunk of metal, drifting aimlessly in the vast darkness of space. 

“They wouldn’t have destroyed their own ship,” Cara explained haphazardly. Din was surprised, Ion cannons were not a common weapon. He had heard of them in passing but never dealt with one personally. The fact that even remnants of the Empire had this kind of technology on their side was daunting. Ion cannons were no laughing manner. The Mandalorian had heard horror stories of these cannons being used on massive transport ships, power taken from them and left in the dark until all the passengers suffocated thanks to the increasing lack of oxygen. Depending on the number of passengers it could take a matter of just five hours to a few days for the large ships to grow totally silent. Some terrified officers used their pistols to finish it off early. What they were dealing with was no laughing matter. Suddenly there was a loud metallic thunk close to his left, Grogu in his arms jumped a bit with a small high pitched yelp, his long green ears making the loud noise even louder for himself. 

“BD!” The Jedi called. Din could see the silhouette of the little droid, now lifeless, on the ground. The Jedi in front of him was already leaning down and picking it up gingerly. 

“He’ll be fine... Just needs a jumpstart,” Fennec exclaimed slowly, her voice seemed off though. Din looked past the Jedi and analyzed his other teammate. Her outline in the dark against the wall of the room suggested she was hunched over slightly, her long blaster resting limply in her hand against her clothed thigh.

“What's wrong?” Din asked, walking past the others to inspect the sharpshooter. While he did not know her well, she did have his respect, just as Fett did. They offered to help him get back the Child, and they would be in the Mandalorian's debt for it. “Were you injured?”

“It's my new body…” She grunted quietly. His mind flashed of the image she showed him back on Tython, of her stomach and the carefully crafted machinery keeping her alive that resided there. Din stood next to her, arm raised, ready to support the woman if she fell. “How long?” 

“..An hour at the most,” she answered through gritted teeth, moving her gloved hand and clutching her middle roughly. Din watched in silence, going over their options. They couldn't just sit here, and wait for the power to return. They couldn't defend the ship; they were close to blind and they were down a teammate. Not unless they wanted to lose someone. Which Din didn't plan on letting happen. They were going to have to find a way out or some way to get the upper hand on their enemy. But they couldn't stay in this room, they needed some place with more cover, more weapons, more options.

“We need to go,” Din announced, looking to Bo-Katan for some sort of plan. But he knew she wouldn’t leave this ship and return it back to the Empire unless it was over her dead body. Especially when she talked in great detail of how important it was to her cause. The woman was rigid, he couldn't see her face in the dim lighting, but he was sure it was one of frustration. 

The Imperial cruiser that fired the Ion cannon continued drifting towards them. Dangerously closer with each passing moment. Looked like they weren't planning on waiting their deaths out. Din wasn't sure if this was either a good or bad thing for them.

“We can defend it. Especially with a Jedi on our side,” Katan argued, red hair whipping around as she turned to stare Din down. Her dark silhouette strong, shoulders held high, meeting the silver Mandalorian's gaze with earnest. Just as he expected, she wasn't letting this one go. Din continued to stare back, silent. What they didn’t need right now was fighting among themselves. They needed to stay calm, think of a way out of this. 

All he had wanted on this excursion was the child, back with him and safe, he didn't need this whole ship. Katan didn't either, he was sure she could find something else. It’s a big world they live in. There are bound to be hundreds of cruisers just like this one among the outer rim. There was no way she was going to be able to claim this one. 

Din looked past her and watched the Imperial ship become larger and larger, details of the white ship becoming clear. Soon they would send dozens of white troopers with bright headlamps to hunt them down in the dark, and a terrifying game of hide and seek would occur. They didn't have many options. Even just attempting to defeat the enemy or taking the other ship, or transferring power would take too long for Fennec. She needed out of here now. Din was cut from his overwhelming thoughts by the new Jedi. 

“Wow, hold on guys. I don't plan on letting anyone die here,” Cal added while standing back up, the droid still limp in the crook of his arm. The orange of his poncho sticking out among the dark colors of the rest of his clothes. “If we can get to my ship I can get us out of here.”

“How?” Cara chimed in quickly. Her thought must have been just as loud as Din’s own. Dune walked to Din’s side, wordlessly taking over in aiding Fennec. The cyborg looked ready to collapse at any moment. He didn’t blame her, he would too if his innards had just stopped functioning. 

“I have a remote generator on my ship.” Cal pulled out his lightsaber, lighting one end and holding it up at eye level. The room was immediately glazed in fiery orange. The dark metal and Dins own silver armor reflecting the color. At least their small weapons had not been affected by the Ion cannon. Their chances of fighting their way out of this wasn’t impossible. But still too much of a risk for any of them to take. Except for, apparently, Katan and her comrade. “If we can get to the docking bay, I can get us out of here,” He continued, looking to the blue Mandalorian for her answer patiently. Din strongly appreciated the backup that was obviously given to him then.

“So, you're just fine with leaving this ship to the Empire?” She asked incredulously. Her usually quiet partner spoke up as well, moving to stand in front of Cal threateningly. One hand holding her helmet, the other raised. A black-gloved finger jabbed Cal in the chest, a universal intimidator. “We're not leaving it behind. You’re either gonna help us, or not?” Koska seethed through gritted teeth. But the Jedi was not phased, nor did he start the conflict Reeves was practically begging for.

“Not… So you can either escape on my ship or not?” He repeated back to her calmly. The look on the blue Mandalorian’s face, lit up from the lightsaber in Cal’s own hand, was one that went from simple anger to rage. Din couldn't help but think this Jedi was nothing like Ashoka. She spoke with grace, with wisdom beyond her years, with conviction and purpose. But Cal, he had more of a fire to him. 

They stared at each other. The lightsaber above them held steady. Din took note of how easy it would be for the Jedi to slice the Mandalorian's head clean off. Just as Reeves moved back, reeling her arm back ready to punch the Jedi. Her leader chimed in, right before the fist hit Cal square in the jaw. 

“Stand down, Reeves... They're right. It's not worth it,” she sighed in defeat. Din exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding under the mask. Koska huffed loudly but backed off from the slightly taller Jedi. Shoving her helmet on roughly as she did. 

“Can you walk?” Cal asked kindly after a moment, turning to look at the four of them and striding over to see what help he could offer. The child in his arms was following each movement Cal made with the glowing saber, obviously fascinated by the object. Whether he knew it from his past or was just enjoying the glow and the trail it made in the dark, who knew.  
“I don't need your he-” Fennec started to collapse forward.

“I've got ya,” Cara chided in, forcibly taking Shand’s arm and putting it around her head. They rose slowly to a full stand. Fennec's legs were shaky and unreliable even with help. Din turned to check on their incoming enemies once again. The Empire ship was too close now. They would have to take the Jedi’s ship, it was their best and only option. If they could get there in time that is.

“..What do we do with him?” Koska asked, pointing to the unconscious general on the floor. All of them turned to look at the forgotten figure on the cold tile. His dark outfit and cape made him almost invisible with the lack of lighting until the lightsaber was raised in Reeves' direction. There was a moment of silence. Carrying him would make their trip back to the hangar even slower than it already would be, with Fennec as indisposed as she was. He supposed the Jedi could carry the child, and Din could grab the gene-

“Finish him,” Bo-Katan decided for everyone. 

“Wai-” Cara started but was cut off as Reeves pulled her pistol out, a short burst of red going through the man's heart efficiently. Dark blood leaked out of Gideon's wound. The man who had been tormenting Din Djarin for the last year, the man who had been hunting down the kid since he took him under his wing, was dead just like that. It was a little strange how quickly it happened, but he wouldn't lie, he felt relief in Gideon’s quick death. Din sighed. Looked like he wasn't getting that bounty after all. He would have to find other means of getting a new ship after all. 

“He was still useful!” Cara yelled. The dark pool of blood started to spread out from the dead man's wound, flowing through the square cracks in the floor. 

“We need to hurry to the Jedi’s ship. We don't have the time to lug him around,” Katan explained to Cara. Uncaring to the Republic’s wishes. The only thing she wanted from Gideon was the darksaber and now she couldn't even have that. The general was useless to her. 

“Lead the way, Jedi,” Din advised the bright figure in front of them, not wanting to lose any more precious time. Also trying to change the subject before Cara ripped the two Mandalorians apart with her bare hands, it was more likely than one thought. The Jedi who had been standing there, looking as if he wanted to speak but staying silent anyway, finally got back into action. Cal nodded, making eye contact with the reflective glass eye piece in Din’s helmet, and held the weapon back at eye level. Turning and making his way towards the door he came through only minutes ago, but what felt like hours now. 

“Don't worry. It's not far,” He added, turning to look behind him at the weakening sharp-shooter. Obviously trying to comfort Fennec. But she did not give any indication of hearing him, she had already begun to turn pale. Din was the first to follow Cal and the limp droid he carried. Holding the child closer as he passed the dead body, picking up his speed to get on their light sources heels. Din’s left hand held his blaster tightly, safety off and ready just in case of any surprises along the way. The fact they could only see three feet in front of them was unnerving at the least. Bo-Katan followed as well, taking Fennec’s other arm around her own head. Reeves taking the rear, both blasters at the ready. With both Cara and the blue Mandalorian helping their teammate walk, they began towards the pitch-black hallway at a decent pace. 

The rest of the ship was much darker than the large room they were in. A lack of windows making it nightmarish. If it wasn't for the beacon of light, illuminating their path, in front of the row of people, there would have been no way they could have made it to the docking bay without making a wrong turn or getting lost entirely.

They kept a fast pace as they continued. It seemed their guide remembered the way he came not too long ago, walking steadily past loops and forks in the massively wide walkway. The only noise in the dark was the echoing of footsteps, Fennec's dragging feet and her increasingly labored, and Grogu’s occasional sweet babble. The bodies they passed along the way was proof that his other teammates really did a number on the stormtroopers that were stationed on the ship, he almost felt bad for them. Almost. The Jedi kept occasionally looking behind him to make sure everyone was keeping up. Grogu in his arms seemed he wasn't afraid of the dark, which made sense since when his old carrier that used to shield him was probably terribly dark when the lid closed too. Speaking of the carrier, Din would have to get another one of those soon. No matter how much the child liked to be held, he only had so much patience, and more importantly, so much arm strength. After a long while of what felt like endless walking, all of a sudden their line leader came to an abrupt halt. Din almost knocked into the back of the man. 

“Wait…” Cal whispered, staying completely still. They all followed his example, not including Grogu, who had turned to look at his own dark reflection, clawing at the silhouette in the beskar armor. Din listened, it took him a second, but then he heard it through the thick metal. Running steps, multiple of them, becoming slowly louder as more entered the cruiser. 

“Dank Farrick,” Cara exclaimed quietly once she picked up on the distant troopers as well. They were not quick enough. The ship arrived, and they were sending in the reinforcements as they predicted. It sounded like more stormtroopers than they originally thought too. This backup came prepared. “Can we take them?” 

“It's too many,” Cal answered, turning to look behind them. His red hair seemed even brighter with the orange glow of lightsaber above it. “Go back, let's turn there.” He pointed back towards a turn in the hallway they only just passed. The path was narrower, obviously used for maintenance on the inner mechanics of the ship. “That leads to the opposite side of the hangar.” 

“You sure about that?” Cara continued. The determination written on her face showed, she obviously wanted to take her chances with the impending battalion bearing down on them. Even Din thought Dune was crazy at times. He considered her a very good friend, a powerful ally, an intelligent tactician, and just a bit wilder than the rest of them. 

“Yeah. I used to work with a bunch of these ships back on Bracca,” He explained, briskly walking around the others and lighting the way back towards the narrow hallway. Bracca… He took a bounty from a man from Bracca. If Din remembered correctly the Gand employer said it was an old scrapper planet, somewhere on the whole other side of the galaxy. The Jedi got around, it also explained why the poncho looked familiar earlier. Cal stood at their new path and waited patiently to turn the corner until everyone passed, checking the hallway to make sure nobody saw them enter the detour. 

The thundering footsteps were growing louder, closer. Too close for comfort. The trained Mandalorian couldn't tell how many enemies there were now. He started to sweat underneath the heavy armor. They wouldn't make it. Soon they would be easy pickings, like shooting fish in a barrel. But he wouldn't be taken down that easily. Din got his blaster ready, holding the pistol towards the entryway just a few feet away and turned his body to the side, the child hidden behind his body. Koska followed his example, both pistols at the ready, while Fennec, Cara, and Bo-Katan got behind the shield of beskar.

“Get behind us,” Din whispered to the Jedi still at the entryway. 

“Hold on,” Cal answered quietly. Putting his arm out in front of Din as the lightsaber receded seemingly back into the hilt. They moved back just a few paces, in complete darkness. Then they could see some light in the path they had just taken, the white light very different from the orange he had gotten used to. At that moment dozens of white stormtroopers ran past. Headlamps so bright it made Din squint at the sudden change in light. Comms could be heard as well as the wall of white rushed past. The child grew silent with his fiddling, just as aware of the danger that surrounded them. It would only take one stormtrooper looking to the left and they would be caught. Probably shot down before any of them could even figure out what was going on. The Mandalorians with their beskar may last longer than the others. But with a multitude of close-range shots, one of them was bound to hit through the seams in the armor. 

Surely enough the bright white soldiers continued to pass them by, a white, foaming, dangerous wave, that they were lucky enough to not have turned and drowned them. Then, just as quick as they came they were gone, their loud footsteps still plain as day. 

The first to breathe was Cal once the last of the stormtroopers were finally gone. He couldn't see the Jedi now in the sea of darkness that swallowed them, but he knew he was there.

“Coast is clear,” he whispered. He heard Cal take a step back, and moved past the others slowly, lightsaber coming back to life. The child in his arms cheered, raising his hands in victory. It was a nice notion, but they weren't even close to victory. Fennec grunted as they continued walking again, somehow even quicker than before. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush they all had been feeling. Din and Grogu were now in the back of the line, switching places with Koska originally. 

“They were heading towards command,” Din exclaimed to the others ahead of him. “We don't have much time before they start exploring the rest of the ship.”

“Not much farther... Hang in there, Miss,” Cal added. Speaking to Fennec and her companions, who were getting closer and closer together in the narrowing pathway. A row of shoulders now seemingly connected.

The dark path started to hold more doors on each side as they continued onwards. Smaller than the ones in the main hallway. This maintenance path must have also been used for storage. Most likely where they stored unimportant goods such as cleaning supplies, perishable foods, sheets, extra garments, etc. As they continued onwards there were fewer doors and more pipes coming out of the wall instead of the sleek surfaces they had grown used to on their unwanted, extended, stay. There were also docking stations for about a dozen Imperial security droids along the right side of the wall. Their dark eyes were lifeless as they walked past the tall robots. The lightsaber illuminating their faces and features metallic body distinctly. The white Empire emblem on their chest was distinct among the black of their lifeless husks. The child clutched Din’s arm around his waist, nervous of the tall powerful droids next to them. Din hushed the child reassuringly, there was no need to be scared. They couldn't hurt them without any power. 

All of a sudden the cruiser gave a jolt underneath their feet. The whir of the engines close below them began to speak, first as a below than a roar. Growing louder with each passing moment. The lights above them flickered once, twice, then the bright lights stayed on. 

Their enemy must have not been able to find them and decided to bring the ship back to life in order to hunt them down. The child in his arm was once again bright green and cheered in response with the return of the overhead lights. Din, however, was not as excited as his counterpart. They lost the thick coverage of the dark, not to mention the troopers now had control of the security cameras from command. They would be found swiftly. 

“Get to the sh-” Din started but was cut off by the sound of hissing hydraulics to the right of him. All the members of their party turned their heads to the right slowly, watching in horror at what was awakened. Those lifeless husks didn't seem so lifeless anymore. The security droids eyes turned from black to grey, to white and were looking down at them silently as their battery banks charged up. Those unblinking eyes were the reason Din did not like droids. The majority of them are lifeless, following orders, unkillable, and powerful. IG-11 started to get rid of that concept, he saw, maybe not life, but something in that lanky droid. But these security droids had no empathy, felt no pain. They would kill them as intruders before they even got to the bay. 

Din did not plan on being kind and waiting until they were powered up to throw him to the ground. He grabbed the silver beskar spear from his back, twirled it around using one hand, and stabbed the junction between its neck and head high above him. Its small black dome came clean off after two piercings of its small neck. Falling to the ground with a loud thunk. 

“Go on ahead,” Cal blurted out. Getting to the side so the other four could get past him and, following the Mandalorians example, using his lightsaber to stab the security droid through its chest before it could attack. 

Cara and Bo-Katan rushed ahead. Koska taking the front, twin pistols ready at her chest. He hoped for their sake there weren't too many troops at the docking bay. There was a good chance they spread themselves thin combing the large Imperial ship since he doubted they put security cameras down in the droid maintenance hall. No cane person would have gone down here if they knew what was waiting here for them. 

The Mandalorian returned to his current situation when one of the droids in front of him, blocking his way out, took a step out of the charging pod. It turned to him, looked for just a single moment, and reached one long arm threateningly for him. 

These droids were created for capturing and holding captive. Once they got a grip on him they would push him to the ground or hold him up in the air with no way to escape. Grogu made a frightened yelp at the powerful image coming at them. Din, still wielding the silver spear, went to stab at the incoming droid. The tall robot grabbing it with his long mechanical digits mid-attack, holding the spear in place. The Mandalorian forced it straight through the tight hold with an ear-piercing scraping noise and up into its head with a loud crunch. It stopped moving and Din brought the spear back and stabbed it again, this time through it’s left optic. It tumbled to the ground loudly. 

He lurched his body around at the sound of more enemies behind him. There were three more getting ready to attack right on his heels. All fully powered up and ready to fulfill the task they were programmed to do. He could hear the lightsaber making a distinct noise as it ran through its own number of enemies behind him. He gripped the child closer to his chest and prepared to fight them one-handed. There was a boost of confidence in that he had a chance against these droids, unlike the dark troopers from before. 

The first one that came at him lunged to grab him with both arms. He ducked under the arm and spun to stab the droid through it’s back. Going through the dark metal, like a hot knife to the flesh. He pulled his long weapon out of the mechanical body roughly as he jabbed the opposite end of the spear into the second droid coming from behind. The spear vibrated at the rough connection, but it didn’t impale the droid. Only pushed him back a few feet. He twirled the spear around so he could attack with the sharp end, turning to the side to protect the child, and forced the spear up through the junction that met arm and body. Ripping the whole arm off roughly, oil spilling onto the floor from an open pipe. But it kept coming for him. The security droid lunged with no indication that it even lost a limb, but as it made a step it lost its footing on its own black blood. It fell forward, Din jumping backward just in time. This was his chance. The Mandalorian raised the spear high and jabbed downwards into the droids head roughly. He looked up and saw the fist droid he stabbed through the back was still running, although not very smoothly. It moved to take the spear out of its kin’s head. But Din rotated the long weapon, hitting the black metallic hand to the side roughly. He pulled the spear out of the droid below him and pushed the other arm away from another incoming attack. Raising the spear and swiftly finishing the droid by stabbing through the white Imperial emblem on its chest with a deafening crunch and some flying sparks. 

Din huffed loudly as he pulled the spear out and went to turn to the third droid still behind him. But it was closer than he expected it to be. The droid was a few inches from him now, his arms ready to tackle the armored fighter to the ground. He moved his spear to guard them against one of the arms. Which it did with a loud clang. Holding the deadly limb between the dark wall and his own silver spear. But the other hand was free to go and thrust directly for his head. He winced physically preparing himself for the unavoidable attack, ready to take a bit of beating in hopes of getting a second chance. But the threat did not come. 

Din watched as the long hand, only a few centimeters from his face, slowed to an almost complete stop. Actually, the droid's whole body seemed to slow down, like the unhurt droid just ran out of battery. But the lights of its eyes were still strong. There was no pressure on his spear as he backed away. He quickly looked down at the child to see if he had something to do with the sudden change of pace in the fight. But the child only turned to look behind them. 

Din followed the child's gaze and saw the Jedi, hair a little messier than before. There were droid bodies strewn about, ripped in half vertically or horizontally. The hand holding his lightsaber was raised, 3 fingers pointing in their direction. The Jedi was slowing down the security droid. Giving the Mandalorian the opening he needed to finish it and he wouldn't miss the opportunity. He swiftly rotated the sharp end of the spear to face the droid and pushed it through its head with a single powerful thrust. A piece of rectangular hardware, wires popping out on each side, came through the other side of the droid's head. Sparks went flying at the intrusion, dropping to the ground when Din pulled the spear back out with a jerk. 

The security droid dropped to the floor roughly with the rest. Crashing into one of its siblings on the ground loudly. The child made a noise of delight, clapping his hands together lightly. Din turned and watched as the Jedi put his hand down, also a little winded from the fight it seemed. The Mandalorian nodded at him in a wordless thanks. Cal acknowledged nodding back, giving a small smile to the child who was making excited noises at his new friend.

“Let’s catch up to the others,” Cal said hurriedly. BD-1 still held in his one left arm stiffly. Din agreed and they ran towards the rest of their team at full speed. Going much faster than before, the speed DIn wished they were going this whole time. The Mandalorian noticed there were no stormtrooper bodies on the way, a good sign that Cara and the others didn't run into any trouble. The maintenance hallway began to become wider again, they were reaching the end of their shortcut. As they rounded another bend they began to hear distant blaster fire. He spoke too soon, looking like they found some trouble after all. They could see more light from the end of the hallway, opening out into a bright large hangar. It had to be the docking bay, just as Cal said. 

“Get to the ship, I’ll cover you,” announced the Jedi. Din went to argue. He was the one with Beskar. Shouldn’t he give the child to the Jedi, let him cover while he got the kid to safety. But before he could bring this point up to Cal. He ran right through the opening without any hesitation, orange lightsaber at the ready in front of him.

Din kept the child close, protecting him from the potential blaster fire shooting at them, as he ran out into the open. The first thing he noticed was the large Imperial ship ramp connecting the two cruisers. There were about two dozen or so soldiers in the docking back, all shooting their blasters from behind Imperial fighters. Just as he expected the rest of the soldiers were already scattered deep within the ship off on a wild chase. Din also took notice of the unfamiliar looking patrol ship slightly to his right, not too different in age from his beloved Razor Crest. 

He surged toward the Jedi’s ship. There was a hatch at the top that opened, Cara Dune shooting from the opening wildly. It was a good distraction as he ran out in the open towards his destination. He felt one or two shots hit his beskar as he kept onward, not nearly the amount he was expecting. He looked to his left, through the side-eye of his helmet, and saw the Jedi. Blaster fire was focused on him, the bright lightsaber too difficult to ignore and quickly becoming an easy target for the confident soldiers. Cal was deflecting red shots using the beams of light in his hand, both ends twirling endlessly in one hand. Din turned and focused on his task, getting closer to the ship. Dune spotted him from her advantage point, waving at him, demanding even in gestures, to come up while their enemies were distracted. 

He used his rocket pack to fly upwards onto the top of the ship, and over to the small porthole at the top. Grogu cheering at the sudden change in altitude. Dune immediately moved out of the way when she saw her friend arrive at the hatch. Bringing her gun down with her so Din could drop in quickly. He practically jumped into the ship, landing roughly on the dirty metal floor. Years of use obvious on the ground. He sighed in relief as he stood straight up, finally out of harm's way, but they weren't out of the clear yet. 

He checked over the child in his arms, those huge eyes looking up at him expectantly, he was perfectly fine. The smile on his face obviously showed he enjoyed the rush of the run a bit too much. Din looked for somewhere to place the child, somewhere safe. He hastily took in the small cabin. Besides his other teammates making a mess of the small ship. He saw shelves filled with a multitude of items with no organization to them, a pilot area with two heavily used leather chairs, a small table with a small bench built into the wall, and a dirty creme hammock suspended above the ground with a small pillow and blanket on it. That looked good enough. He placed the child on the hammock.

“Stay here, kid,” he said, patting the child on the back gently before walking over to where Fennec was on the ground, who was looking worse for wear. Bo-Katan and Koska were looking for the generator Cal spoke of, they were checking the cupboards and shelves all around the cabin. Throwing supplies and other items to the side in haste. Cara even began helping them out, her large gun thrown to the side as she began to search the shelves near the hammock. They needed to get moving. Once reinforcements showed up they may not be able to get out of here so easily. Blaster fire could be heard hitting the ship, but the metal was thick, well-made. It would hold, but for how long.

Just then there were loud footsteps on the metal above them. Din had his blaster ready but then the Jedi swung down from the opening in the ship, landing on the ground roughly as if he was just thrown full speed down the porthole. Just as quickly as he came down he was back on his feet. He jumped up and rushed past the others, placing BD-1 on the table, and lifting one of the dark blue cushions of the small bench and threw it to the side. 

“Close the hatch,” Cal yelled. He picked up the generator, with a slight grunt, from its hiding spot under the bench and brought it to the front of the ship, placing it on the co-pilot seat that whined with the sudden weight put upon it. He took a cord that retracted out from the small control panel on his starcraft and connected it to the large mechanical box with a rough twist. The Jedi pressed a button on the rust-orange block and twisted a large dial to full power. Nothing happened at first, Cal grumbled and slammed his fist on top of the generator with a loud bang. Immediately, the ship’s lights began to brighten. 

“Got it!” Cal yelled from the pilot's seat, starting up the engine with a press of a large red ignition switch. The two thrusters came to life instantly. 

Dune practically jumped up the small ladder and grabbed the circular door above them. Bringing it down roughly, clicking the lock into place. It sealed itself with a hiss and glowed a bright green once it was closed fully and ready for take-off. 

“Go,” Din declared, letting the Jedi know that they were in the clear. They started to lift off, the blaster fire around them increased as more troops began to show up. They started forward, past the almost invisible barrier that kept the vacuum of space out of the ship's large entrance. They immediately veered up, over the top of the large Imperial ship blocking their way out. Those of them not sitting down started to fall backward as they increased speed. The light cruiser close below them began to aim one of its large cannons at them as they passed, this one was not colored blue as it started up. 

“Hang on!” The Jedi in the pilot's seat yelled starting to prep the hyperspace, holding the silver lever with one hand above him, waiting for the all-clear from his systems. Din moved unsteadily towards Grogu, still safely in the hammock. He gripped onto a shelf with his orange gloves next to the hanging bed and held onto the child with his other. Just in time as well, they began to pick up speed, the pull of gravity strong on their backs. Then, with a flash of another green light on the control panel, Cal switched the flip and they entered hyperspace. The windshield turning that familiar bright blue that meant complete and utter safety. At last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it took me forever to write. With the holidays things have been very busy. I am hoping for one update at least every week from now on though. Be patient with me please :)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to send me messages at my Tumblr, summertimestea. Taking eventual future prompts and situations there, please send ideas friends :)


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